Sundial · Ajax, Ontario
The Town of Ajax sold the Sundial Pavilion. The public green space around it is going too — to a parking lot, a sports court and a garbage enclosure. Residents found out on 23 July. Four days later the trees came down.
Sundial Park, 8:46 pm, 24 July 2026.
What is happening
The Sundial community has used this park for fifteen years — for soccer, cricket and volleyball, for the Town's own free summer drop-in program, for learning to ride a bike on the sidewalk loop, for a toddler's first steps, and as a safe path for older neighbours getting their daily exercise. The loop is now gone, with no plan to reconnect it.
99 Barnham Street was built as the sales centre for the Sundial development. When the homes sold, the building became the neighbourhood's pavilion and the field around it became the park.
The Town of Ajax has sold the building to a private operator for use as a licensed childcare facility and community hub. Residents are not opposed to childcare in this neighbourhood, and this campaign is addressed to the Town, not to the operator.
What residents object to is what came with it: an expansion beyond the building's footprint and onto the adjacent public green space. A parking lot in the middle of the field. A sports court. A garbage enclosure in front of houses. Fencing across the walking loop. And the removal of fourteen mature trees.
None of it was put to the neighbourhood before it was decided.
Ajax residents want transparency and accountability. Taxpayers deserve answers, and to be part of the conversation.
How we got here
Town of Ajax Zoning By-law 95-2003 designates the site OS — Open Space. Exception 149 permits a sales centre, which may afterwards be used as a daycare, community centre or library. The Official Plan designation is, and remains, Open Space.
The sale brochure (PDF) (opens in a new tab)Ajax Zoning By-law 95-2003, s.5 (opens in a new tab)
Source — Zoning By-law 95-2003; sale brochure, 99 Barnham Street
Residents purchase lots marketed as backing onto open space and mature trees, several paying documented premiums for the position. Street trees are planted at roughly $572 each. Over the following fifteen years the field becomes the neighbourhood's cricket pitch, volleyball court, summer drop-in program and cycling loop.
Source — Residents' accounts and purchase documentation
The Town's own public notice states that the Pavilion “and the associated lands” were sold in October 2025, following what it calls a Council-approved process, to a private operator for a childcare facility and community hub. The same notice records that the Town “finalized a boundary adjustment” as part of the sale — keeping the public sidewalks in municipal ownership while providing, in its words, “sufficient space for parking, outdoor amenities, and other site features.” That adjustment is how the green space came to be inside the sale. Residents were not told until 23 July 2026, nine months later. They have asked for the boundary adjustment date and the Council minutes; neither has been provided.
The Town’s public notice (PDF) (opens in a new tab)The sale brochure (PDF) (opens in a new tab)The planning file on ajax.ca (opens in a new tab)
Source — Town of Ajax public notice, 99 Barnham Street
“Outdoor area with additional adjacent park land”
Residents arrive at Town Hall at 9:30 am asking for answers, speak with Town staff, and ask the Mayor's assistant to arrange an appointment. There has been no response from his office to date. Later the same day the Town issues a public notice about the site — for most residents, the first they hear of any of it, nine months after the sale.
The notice residents were handed (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Source — Town of Ajax public notice; residents' account of the visit
A formal request to defer application SPA2/26 goes to the Mayor, Council, Planning staff and the MPP at 11:58 am, followed by dozens of individual letters. A neighbour builds a QR code that opens a pre-addressed draft so anyone can write in under a minute. That evening, families roll thirty metres of vinyl across the grass and paint it. The same afternoon, a contractor stakes out the parking area.
Source — Correspondence and timestamped photographs
“Our park was not for sale.”
Residents walk Councillor Nancy Henry through the park and put their concerns directly. A second wave of letters goes out asking Council to convene a special meeting. Residents report being told the sale was approved under the Mayor's strong-mayor powers — a claim residents are still seeking confirmation of from the Town. Fencing now encloses the Pavilion.
Source — Community group, 26 July 2026
Residents return to Town Hall at 9 am and speak with the project planner and the Manager of Planning. Residents report both staff reiterating that the owner had no authority or approvals for work outside the building and that no permits had been issued — the site plan approval, SPA2/26, would be the authority once granted. The Town's own notice says as much in writing: a building permit was obtained for interior renovations, while the exterior works were still under review. That same morning, survey lines appear across the field, trees are marked and an excavator begins work. The first tree is pulled out at about 10:29 am. The children's banner is found torn down. By-law officers attend and work on the green space stops for the day. A by-law complaint is filed. Residents again ask the Mayor's office for the boundary adjustment date, the Council minutes and other documents relating to the Pavilion.
The notice, on permits (PDF) (opens in a new tab)The planning file on ajax.ca (opens in a new tab)
Source — Town of Ajax public notice; residents' account; timestamped video and photographs
“… including obtaining a building permit for interior renovations. The Town is currently reviewing the owner's plans for the proposed exterior works.”
What the neighbourhood has done
Letters to Mayor Collier, Councillors Henry and Lee, the Planning department, Transportation, By-law and MPP Rob Cerjanec — a formal request to defer application SPA2/26, plus dozens of individual letters.
A neighbour generated a QR code and link that opens a pre-addressed draft, so anyone can write to Council in under a minute.
On the evening of 24 July, families and children painted a banner the length of the field and hung it on the construction fence.
Residents walked Councillor Nancy Henry through the park on 26 July and put their concerns directly.
On the morning of 27 July, with trees already coming down, a resident attended Town Hall and brought by-law officers to the site. Work on the green space stopped for the day.
A by-law complaint about the works on the green space, filed with the Town on 27 July.
Every photograph and video on this page is timestamped and was taken by a resident. Nothing here is reconstructed.
Posts to the North Ajax community group of 12,000 members, contact with the Hartrick House campaign, and outreach to regional media.
Beyond our street
Sundial is not the only Ajax property where residents have found out late. Hartrick House, a designated heritage property, is the subject of its own resident campaign and was covered by Global News. Both files are on the Town's public planning portal — the same portal that carries the documents for this site.
The record
Taken by residents between 24 and 27 July 2026. Nothing here is staged or reconstructed. Journalists are welcome to use this material with credit to the residents of the Sundial community.
Take three minutes
One letter in your own voice is worth more than fifty identical copies. Add a sentence about what this park means to you — that is the part they cannot answer with a policy paragraph.
What we are asking Council to do
Dear Mayor Collier and Members of Council, I am writing to respectfully request that Council hold a Special Council Meeting to address growing public concerns regarding the former Sundial Pavilion (99 Barnham Street) and Hartrick House (120 Robertson Drive). These two properties have raised broader questions about transparency, meaningful public consultation, and the future of publicly owned community assets in Ajax. Regardless of where residents live, decisions involving public lands should be made openly, with clear communication and meaningful opportunities for public input. I respectfully ask that Council support a Special Council Meeting so residents can hear directly from Council and Town staff, ask questions, and better understand the decision-making process. Thank you for your time and consideration.